standing, head-butting, and pointing (in that order)

Bridget's been eleven months old for a week now (I'm starting to panic about finding the perfect birthday present!) and she seems to be learning by leaps and bounds. This week, she started working on a few things--and not all of them good.

First came standing (good). That is, standing without holding onto anything. To be honest, I probably can't call it standing quite yet, since she only does it for a split second when she's reaching for something and needs both hands to get it. But she's let go of the ottoman/couch/upside down laundry basket or whatever she's using for support almost without seeming to think of it, always when she's reaching to grab something else. The first time I noticed it was Sunday morning (the 14th) when I went in to get her in the morning. I reached my arms out like usual, and this time she let go of the side of the crib to reach back to me. Honestly, I almost missed it! I hesitated right before I grabbed her to look at her, and there she was, standing without support. I'm just wondering how long til she's steady at it...and how long after that til she walks!

Next came head-butting (not good). That's right, I said head-butting. I don't know if she watched videos of goats at daycare or if the kids there have been play-wrestling (I doubt it very much, knowing Auntie) or if she just came up with it on her own, but Wednesday night (the 17th) we were at home on our own while Al went to hockey and she got mad at me, gave me this stubborn look, and slammed her forehead into my face. She hit me hard--if she would have hit my nose, she probably would have broken it. But she got my cheekbone and it stung. I know it had to have hurt her a bit, and I made the wrong move (in retrospect). I was so stunned that I reacted by getting upset, asking, "Bridget! Why did you do that? You hurt mommy!" and by coming close to crying. Well, she must have liked getting a reaction from me because when I picked her up from daycare the next day, bam! Right into my face, although not as hard and more in greeting/fun than in anger. Auntie and Uncle (daycare) laughed saying she'd been doing it all day and it was a "greeting." No, I told them, and told them about the first time. I really hope that if she keeps doing it they'll stop her instead of laughing at her, because it worries me. She was trying to do it again when she was getting tired and cranky last night, only this time was with anything within reach of her head. What is wrong with this child?

This morning came pointing (good). Pointing! Again, I almost missed it. I mean, I saw it, but it almost didn't register what she was doing. Bridget wanted to play in the dog's water bowl and I told her no. When she put her fingers in anyway and looked at me, I pulled them out and gently tapped the back of her hand, saying no. She didn't move away from the bowl, but sat next to it, pointed right at it, and looked at me with a little puppy-dog look on her face that said, "Please?" "No, Bridget," I said. She did it again. "You can't play in the water," I said. "I don't want you getting all wet." And after sitting there with a look of disappointment on her face, she crawled away and started playing with something else. I was so proud of her--and realized right then and there that she really isn't a baby anymore.

Speaking of babies, she's trying to say the word baby now. It comes out sounding more like ba-ba or ba-bye (and no, she's not trying to say bye-bye), but she's definitely trying. She loves looking at a picture of herself from almost six months ago, or board books with pictures of babies in them. She smiles and laughs and talks to them and looks at me and tries to repeat baby after me: "Ba-ba. Ba-Bye." Hasn't quite got the long vowel sounds down yet, but she's getting there, too! Oh, my little girl really is a little girl now. Sigh.